Suhakam: Rescind the Ban on Hindraf

Malaysiakini

The government was at the receiving end of much criticism for its decision to ban Hindraf, starting with the country’s officially sanctioned human rights organisation.

“Suhakam is of the opinion that a ban on Hindraf will not resolve the issues being championed by this group of individuals and therefore encourages the relevant agencies to address the genuine grievances which are socio-economic in nature,” said commissioners Simon Sipaun, Michael Yeoh and Denison Jayasooria in a joint statement.

They were concerned that the ban would further alienate the group from mainstream Malaysian society and asked for the ban to be rescinded.

The trio want the government to produce evidence of the movement being a threat to public order and morality – a feeling shared by others.

“It was cowardice and arrogance – a clampdown of genuine voices of dissent,” said DAP Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran.

“Its (18-point) demands should indeed be incorporated into the national socio-economic policy,” he said – critical of Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar for not informing Parliament beforehand.

Ostrich behaviour

Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong characterised it as the government “burying itself in the sand like an ostrich” and losing further Indian support.

“The government should understand that with or without Hindraf, the community was unhappy with the way their cultural, religious and basic needs were trampled on,” he said.

Liew lambasted socio-economic policies which marginalised the lower income groups in Malaysia, making many Indians, Malays and Chinese living in abject poverty.

“The government had kow-towed to demands made by a small group of Umno right-wing advocates to ban Hindraf,” he said.

Civil rights activist and former Gerakan leader Dr Toh Kin Woon called it distasteful and ridiculous since they are banning a NGO struggling for disenfranchised Indians.

“If the federal government is sincere, it’ll find the root causes of Indian dissatisfaction, rather than to resort to such harsh actions,” he said.

Toh argued that poor Indians – not unlike other ethnicities – lack upward social mobility opportunities, and are mired in generational poverty. Therefore the government should work with Hindraf to address the issues.

“Declaring Hindraf illegal will not only resolve the problem, but exacerbate the situation,” he summed up.

“Hindraf was never an armed struggle. It was a harmless movement championing the cause of marginalised minorities and protesting against repressive security laws,” he said, repeating similar calls to revoke the ban.

“Without such evidence, the charges are rather unfounded and libellous,” he said adding that the reasons behind the decision were questionable.

He postulated that if Syed Hamid was doing this because of Hindraf’s illegal assemblies, then Umno and PAS too should be banned for their NEP demonstrations in Penang and Bar Council’s forum intrusion in Kuala Lumpur respectively.

“Ban on Hindraf was blatant prejudice and injustice.

“Is this the sign of things to come after the Umno leadership change?” he asked.
Ahimsa movement

“If the movement was a threat to national security, then former Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi’s Ahimsa movement should also be deemed as a terrorist organisation,” said United Hindu Religious Council (UHRC) deputy president AK Suppayah

He believes the ban was a bad omen for the BN federal government, just like how police brutality at the Nov 25 Hindraf rally last year led to their electoral losses in March.

Bayan Baru MCA division vice-chairperson Ooi Chuan Aik felt that the government should have adopted a softer approach.

Anti-ISA Movement (GMI) chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said the ban would not change the situation since the issue was about managing and engaging’ Hindraf and its demands.

Penang Makkal Sakti Welfare Association (Pemaswa) deputy chairperson MC Pitchay views the ban as part of government strategy to quell the community’s insurgence against injustice and discrimination.

“The government may have a hidden agenda to establish a camouflaged pro-BN NGO in Hindraf’s mould to hoodwink the Indian community,” he said.

PAS national unity chairperson Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the government should have dealt with the movement professionally and not politically, calling on the accusations against the movement to be heard in court.

He also invited Hindraf to move into mainstream civil rights struggles in the country and to appear less as an extreme Hindu movement.

MIBA president, Sivakumar felt that banning Hindraf would do little good for the ruling coalition as it failed to address the core issues.

“Banning Hindraf is one thing, but the mother of all Indian protests which happened in the March 8 general election, the Makkal Sakthi (people’s power), is the feeling of being sidelined under the New Economic Policy for far too long.

“It is about the desire to be treated equally and to be given a fair share of opportunities in the civil, business and education sectors as well as the need to respect their places of worship in terms of indiscriminate demolitions,” he said.

“These are the grouses of the community, no one can imprison this spirit,” he stressed.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Malaysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Post navigation

One Response to Suhakam: Rescind the Ban on Hindraf

Not sure if this ban make sense as HINDRAF is not a legal organisation in the first place.

As a moderate Indian Malaysian, I don’t agree or support HINDRAF (maybe one of the few Indian who do not support HINDRAF in Malaysia).

No, I’m not a BN Supporter. How many have actually read their memorandum, speeches or attended their gatherings.

The approach, writing and rhetorics incites hatred towards others. They are another organisation hiding behind race, religion, temples and schools. Their arguements are flimsy and does not make much sense.

For alternative views on HINDRAF, from a Indian Malaysian point of view, , please visit (AUg/Sept/Oct Archive)

http://balankumarpremakumaran.blogspot.com/Thanks for your views Balan. Its great to get another opinion. However I feel Hindraf did achieve in making Malaysian Indians generally more politically aware of their plight and awaken them from their slumber.

"anak semua bangsa ... di bumi manusia"
We want our government to tell us the truth; we want them to deliver justice; we want our communities to live in peace; and we want respect for the dignity of all Anak Bangsa Malaysia and humankind.

"Malaysians of all races and religions need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun." We are all ONE - ANAK BANGSA MALAYSIA!
THIS CANDLE WILL BE LIGHTED UNTIL EVERY ISA DETAINEE IS FREED. ISA IS AN AFFRONT TO HUMAN RIGHTS. FREE ALL ISA DETAINEES NOW.